Bright Lights
by KageKitsune XXX
Summary: It's hard to trust fate to bring love back to you, but sometimes that's all you can do. NaruSasu AU


**_Disclaimer: _**Do not own anything... I should probably work on that.

**_

* * *

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_Baby, Baby, Baby, when all your love is gone, who will save me from all I'm up against out in this world?_

_Maybe, maybe, maybe, you'll find something that's enough to keep you, but if the bright lights don't receive you,  
you should turn yourself around and come on home._

'_Bright Lights' Matchbox 20_

* * *

"This is the stupidest idea you've ever had. Quite an achievement considering the gems you've had in the past."

Sasuke watched with growing helplessness as Naruto continued his last minute ditch to properly fasten the clasps on his luggage. He appeared to have stuffed his entire world in a couple of suitcases. Apparently he planned on leaving nothing behind. Nothing that is, except Sasuke.

"This will never work. You'll be panhandling on the corners of streets in a couple of months, trying to make airfare to get home…"

If Naruto was hearing any of this, let alone comprehending, he was showing no signs of it. He was in the last stages of his battle against his ridiculous orange suitcase, which had exploded on him in the middle of the airport lobby. Sasuke was reaching the end of his rope.

"Naruto-"

"There, done! Stupid thing, thinking it could challenge me." Naruto, sitting triumphantly on the wayward luggage, smiled sunnily up his annoyed friend. "Just in time too, they should be boarding any minute."

"Look, for the hundredth time, this will never work. You have any idea the number of people who leave home thinking they are going to make it 'big' in the west? Hardly any of them ever do. You should just put a stop to this now, try and get a refund on your ticket and ask Ibiki for your job back."

He might as well have been preaching to a brick wall, for all the good it did him. For the past few weeks, everything Sasuke said simply rolled off the idiot like water off a duck's back. Naruto stood up and tried to straighten himself up a bit, oblivious to the peaking exasperation of his best friend.

"Now, what were you saying?"

It was all Sasuke could do, not to bludgeon Naruto to unconsciousness with his own carry-on. "This is stupid."

"What's stupid about it? It'll be fine, you just worry too much."

"You're taking a ridiculous risk and you'll have nothing to show for it when you finally wise up."

And there was that stupidly, optimistic and headstrong smile again.

"I'll be fine, it's going to work out and I never wise up, you know that. I have my destiny to go forge out there. I'm going to prove to everyone in this town that I am meant to be something great. I'll prove it to you too." All that was missing was the superhero pose.

"Who gives a shit what anyone thinks anymore. This town is full of simple-minded losers anyway."

"See, all the more reason to leave."

"Naruto-"

His statement was cut off by the announcement that Naruto's flight was about to begin boarding. Sasuke felt frissons of panic rush through him as he watched Naruto's expression change to steely resolve. Would it kill the idiot to be at least a little uncertain, a little hesitant about completely turning his life upside down? As Naruto face him full on, to begin his goodbyes, Sasuke made a last ditch, though undoubtedly futile, effort to convince his only friend to stay put.

"Naruto, you can't-"

Sasuke was cut off once again as Naruto suddenly pulled him into a tight hug. All the air rushed out of his lungs, and the words he was desperately trying to form refused to choke themselves out. Instead, the sudden flood of warmth and scent halted all efforts to stop this disaster in the making. Unconsciously, his fingers curled into Naruto's shirt, extracting all the heat and sensation he could. He couldn't remember the last time someone hugged him, let alone Naruto. It was probably a good thing, since it certainly had a potent effect. He was momentarily bereft as his friend pulled back.

"Everything's going to be okay. I'll call you the first chance I get so you'll know I got there in one piece." With that, Naruto picked up his carry-on and started striding towards the security checkpoint, set on leaving Sasuke in the wilderness.

Sasuke stood rooted to the spot, wishing that Naruto would at the very least turn back to wave goodbye. If he did that, maybe he'd get the courage necessary to tell Naruto the only thing that could stand in the path of a hurricane; to try and convince it to stop and consider giving up carving its own destiny, in exchange for the chance to shape two. But Naruto didn't turn around, opting simply to raise one hand in farewell as he disappeared through the checkpoint. Sasuke should have known he was setting himself up to fail- Naruto was one person who never looked back.

* * *

It took Naruto about a week to get around to calling, and Sasuke was anything but surprised. Everything had been smooth-sailing so far because as Sasuke had predicted, the universe will bend itself for a man on a mission… at least for awhile.

"You should see it here, Sasuke, it's amazing. Neji has been showing me around, you would not believe how much there is to do here."

"Having fun, huh? How can you be staying with Hyuuga, I thought he was still on-campus."

"He is… he's only breaking like a million rules to keep me here. So I can't complain too much when he takes away my ramen, and tells me to 'diversify my diet'. Honestly, he sounds just like you. Sasuke says hi, Neji."

From his perch on the bed, Neji raised a cool eyebrow in response, not believing for a minute that Sasuke sent any form of greeting. Naruto, for the life of him, could not understand why Neji and Sasuke didn't get along. He thought, with them being so similar, they would really be the best of friends. The thing Naruto failed to grasp, the thing Neji and Sasuke both understood perfectly, was that there was a serious danger in having _too_ many things, and people, in common.

"Plus, Neji's classmates are telling me it's a good thing I'm here. Evidently I make him smile, and before I came, they didn't even know he had teeth. He says hi too by the way."

"I'm sure he does." Sasuke responded drily. "How's the search for stardom going?"

"Nothing much happening yet, but it's still early days. The next time we talk, I might have better news."

Sasuke didn't respond to that. He had already timetabled how this whole fiasco was going to play out, and fully expected Naruto to be back in Japan in about 3 months. He had to admit, he was going to feel a little bad about how disappointed Naruto would be about the impending failure. Naruto would bounce back though, he always did. Besides, at least he'd end up where he belonged and had no business leaving in the first place.

"Sasuke, I'm going to hang up. I can't use all of Neji's international minutes…not in one go anyway. I'll call you back soon or sooner if something good happens."

"Whatever…idiot."

* * *

It had been three months and apparently, Naruto still could not figure out time difference. Sasuke almost fell off the bed as he struggled with answering the phone and untangling himself from the bed sheets.

"Man, you're so grouchy. It's the middle of the day!"

"Not here you moron. You need airfare or something?"

"Why do you keep asking me that? No, I'm still in the hunt and I'm still going to make it. Stop being such a buzz-kill."

Sasuke yawned and did the math in his head. Naruto was already overdue on his return. According to his calculations, the idiot should have been back a week ago. Still, Sasuke had been calculating the time based on a normal person's threshold for punishment. Naruto was anything but normal and it was showing.

"How's Neji?" Sasuke did not care how sullen and sarcastic the question sounded. It was three in the freaking morning.

"The last time I saw him, he was great." Picking up on sarcasm was never Naruto's strong point.

"The _last _time?" Sasuke sat up abruptly as Naruto's sheepish giggle travelled seven thousand miles.

"Oh, I didn't tell you? The admin at Neji's school found out he was "harbouring" me. It was not pretty. Long story short, it's a good thing Neji's about nine types of Asian genius, since they didn't want to lose him. The only thing they did was kick me out."

"So where the hell are you?!"

"I'm crashing with Kankuro. Didn't I tell you all of this the last time?"

".. Kankuro, what the hell is he doing there?"

"He's trying to get his puppet show thing off the ground. I told him he would have more luck if he lost the make-up and cat-suit for while, and maybe made less creepy puppets; but he called it blasphemy and hid my ramen for two days."

"I see…" It _was_ a bit of a relief. Things may not have been snowballing on schedule, but at least they were snowballing. "Yeah, well try not to starve or anything."

"Will you quit worrying? Besides, I'm the one who should be worried about you. Shit, I think the phone-card's about to-"

"Naruto? Pfft, idiot."

* * *

Naruto wasn't nearly as chipper the next time he called, in fact, Sasuke would hear the frustration seething in his friend's voice. He knew Naruto did not have the patience to hunker down and pursue this far-fetched dream. If the success didn't happen soon, he knew the blond was going to be on the next flight home as soon as Sasuke could wire the funds.

"Naruto…are you getting an accent?" Sasuke was trying hard to hide the amusement in his voice.

"What?"

"An accent, you sound funny."

"I sound stupid. It's all the practice I have to be doing with the freaking 'L' words."

"L-words?"

"Yeah, I mean come on; if our language didn't see it necessary to include it, obviously it's just not necessary. I am totally retarded when I try to speak English. "Herro, I'm Naruto." Ugh, and they say their names backwards here. I feel like such a freak everywhere. Apparently, I don't look Japanese either. I went into one of the Japanese towns here to get some decent ramen, and all the Japanese people looked at me funny when I was making conversation. Why didn't you tell me that I look white?!"

"You're a natural blond with blue eyes… I thought you knew this already."

"No one gives Sakura shit and she's freaking pink!"

Sasuke smiled, conceding that point. He knew he should feel bad for his best friend, but the rant was extremely amusing. Plus, he'd be sure to put things right when Naruto got home.

"I'm hanging up. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to call your Japanese-looking ass?"

"Well if you'd get access to a fixed line, I'd call you instead."

"Yeah, excuses, excuses. Nothing hides the fact that you're expensive. I'll call you when I get another chance."

"You could also try figuring out a way to call collect. If you're lucky, I might actually accept the charges."

"Gee, you're a prince among men, Sasuke. Later…"

Sasuke smiled as he hung up the phone. It was only a matter of time now.

* * *

"Uchiha-sama, there is an overseas call for you on line 2 from an Uzumaki-san"

Sasuke arched a brow as he picked up the line. It was unlike Naruto to call while he was at work. In fact, it was unlike him to call at an hour that was even halfway decent.

"You're alive? How much is the airfare?"

"Sasuke, you are not going to believe this!"

"Believe what?" Sasuke responded absently, as he opened his browser to hunt down the next flight out to Japan.

"I'm in!"

"You're what?"

"I'm in…I mean I got an 'in'. This is so unbelievable."

Sasuke stopped his search to listen carefully to what his friend was saying. Naruto was babbling excitedly and Sasuke began to feel a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"What's an 'in'?"

"Sai took me to his agent. The guy who got him his own art show…"

"_**SAI**?! _Now Sai's there too? What the hell. Is Japan sinking or facing some impending disaster I am unaware of? Why am I getting the feeling that I am the only one left in this country? Are you people fleeing the plague?"

"Will you chill out and let me finish? When I walked in there, he didn't even let me say anything- just told me he didn't deal with models or actors. How cool is that? He thought I was a model!"

"Naruto…"

"Right, right. So I told him that I wasn't either of those and that what I had was a revolutionary new fitness program that people could benefit from and-"

"I know the pitch already, Naruto."

"Right, so while I was talking, he started looking at me funny. The next thing I know, I have my own apartment and appointments with potential investors."

"What?"

"I know! As it turns out I have the two things needed to make it here in the fitness industry. I look good and have a funny accent."

"You're joking…"

"I am as serious as a ramen shortage. Don't worry though, I had Neji and Sai with me, so they didn't let me sign anything. It's happening Sasuke, just like that and it's actually happening!"

This had to be some type of sick joke. Nobody was ever this lucky. The things Naruto was describing simply did not happen. Sasuke looked blankly at the wall across from him, unable to digest anything being said.

"You're not coming home?"

"_Coming home?_ Are you kidding? I have to meet with a whole bunch of people to see if they can actually market and sell the idea. I mean, it's not like exercise routines haven't been done before. Still, there's a shot, and it has to be possible if they have already started putting money into it. Thank goodness western food is so fattening. Sasuke you should see this apartment! It's overlooking, uh…it's overlooking some kind of park or something. It's supposed to be a big deal, 'Middle Park' or something like that. I'll Google it later. Is this not the most incredible thing that could ever happen or what?!"

"Unbelievable…"

"I have to go; I have a meeting in half an hour and I can't afford to pull a Kakashi." Naruto sputtered and laughed at the potential enormity of the whole situation. "Someone needs to call and wake me up soon, because I swear I am dreaming this whole thing. Wish me luck!"

"Break a leg…"

* * *

Sasuke's ruminations over the company's last quarter were rudely interrupted by a GQ magazine. The glossy publication had landed squarely on top of his files and laid there staring indolently back at him. Apparently it contained 20 questions he needed to ask his doctor and could tell him where to find the hottest suits for the coolest prices. Sasuke could care less.

"Don't toss it, Sasuke-kun, he's in it!"

Sakura managed to stop Sasuke just before he lobbed the magazine towards the waste basket. He gave the cover a second glance but saw nothing to warrant an interruption of his duties. For Sakura's sake, this had better be good.

"Who is Josh Hartnett and why should I care that he's back?"

"Not him… page 12, just look already."

He clearly wasn't going to get any peace until he did. Sasuke quickly found his target page and stopped dead. Looking back at him from page 12 was a pair of blue eyes that he hadn't seen for the better part of a year. This was beyond insane. Sitting on an exercise ball under the inane title of 'Fitness never looked so good' was a shirtless Naruto, eyes smouldering behind a mane of wild blond hair. The black track bottoms assisted the exercise ball in anchoring the theme of fitness, just in case the washboard abs weren't convincing enough.

"How hot does he look there, I mean he needs a haircut, but seriously how hot it that?"

Sakura snatched up the magazine and started twirling about with it, leaving Sasuke staring shell-shocked at the financial reports in front of him.

"I can't believe the idiot is making it this big. 'He convinces you that you can do anything', that is definitely Naruto in a nutshell. This is just so wild! I can't believe he didn't call and tell me he was getting written up in GQ. Did he tell you, Sasuke?"

"No…nothing." It must have been over two months since he last spoke to Naruto. He was getting the impression that everyone else had much easier access.

"I have to go show Ino. If you talk to him before I do, tell him to send a bunch of autographed copies so I can sell them on eBay. Later Sasuke-kun!"

* * *

When Sasuke answered the phone a few days later, he was immediately greeted with a blast of mixed conversation and epileptic music. It took a few seconds before the noise muted to a dull roar and revealed the voice of his caller.

"Miss me?"

For a confused moment, Sasuke wondered if he had inadvertently summoned the phone call by staring at glossy magazines too long.

"Are you in the middle of a hurricane or what?" He knew Naruto smiled at that, and the imagined grin was no less potent than the real thing.

"I know, I know… I should have waited till I got back to my apartment, but I just wanted to call I guess."

"I'm actually looking at your magazine article that Sakura tried to shove down my eye sockets."

"Oh yeah, which one?"

"GQ"

"Heh, I'll tell you one thing I found out from the photo-shoot for that one: it takes a lot of work to look effortlessly sexy. Did I pull it off?"

Sasuke decided it was safer not to answer that. Naruto was constantly moving about in the attempt to find the quietest spot in the nightclub. He finally decided to head outdoors through the fire escape. Before he had a chance to resume the conversation with Sasuke though, one of his companions found him. On the other end of the line, Sasuke's trail of thought was derailed by the voice of a tipsy-sounding young woman coming over the line.

"Naruto-chaaaaan, there you are. You're ignoring us!"

Sasuke could immediately tell that Naruto had given the girl a crash-course on the Japanese honorific system and she was milking its novelty for all its worth.

"I'm talking to a friend of mine, I'll be back in a little while." Naruto sheepishly turned his attention back to Sasuke. "Sorry, everyone is bouncing off the walls around here. I am not entirely sure it's all natural. Next week, I'll be in Amsterdam. Sai says the strangest things are legal there. I plan to behave though."

"Really…" Sasuke realized that this phone call was a defining moment for the both of them. He would be lying to himself if he didn't admit this new world seemed to fit with Naruto perfectly; that maybe he belonged there far more than he did in Konoha, and with anyone in the village.

Sasuke had always seen it, even as a little kid, when the force of Naruto's personality seemed to push walls outward, trying to get out. He was much too odd, too warm and just far too much for the small, xenophobic world that was Konoha and its people. He was always destined for greater things- Sasuke had believed him the first time he had said it. Sasuke knew deep down that it was wrong to try and tame him and keep him caged by his side. He knew it was wrong, but that didn't mean he wasn't selfish enough to try.

"Naruto…" It was now or never.

"Yeah?"

"_**Naruto**_, you're still out here! You promised to come in and dance with me. Ditch the loser so we can have some fun already."

Naruto had moved the phone so that his reply to the obviously pouting girl was muffled. A moment later he came back on the line. "Look, Sasuke…"

Up until then, he had been willing to try, and he would have. He would have tried and he would have failed. Who was he kidding? It wouldn't have been enough. Konoha was a dead end and Sasuke certainly wasn't enough to keep him here. Instead, he was some loser who was about to be hung up on. He felt his grip tightening painfully around his phone.

"...Sasuke."

"God, you're just so stupid."

"What? Sasuke, are you okay?"

"You've never understood anything. You're so stupid!"

Naruto flinched at the sound of Sasuke's phone hitting the wall before the line finally went dead. He blinked in confusion for a moment before slowly turning off his phone and leaning against the wall, sighing as prepared himself to re-enter the nightclub. Not for the first time since he had left Japan, Naruto wondered how a person entirely surrounded by people, could feel so completely alone.

* * *

It had turned out to be one of those days. The type where absolutely nothing had gone right, leaving Sasuke pissed off and, he was willing to admit it, slightly emo. It was nothing short of alarming just how many of these days he had been having lately. He had stopped by Ichiraku's to get some comfort ramen, only to realize that whatever had endeared him to the place was no longer there; and hadn't been there for awhile. Still, at least he wasn't hungry anymore.

He swore to himself as he fumbled with his keys, finally managing to get into his house. Something was not right- that much was immediate as he quickly scanned his surroundings. He was alerted to sounds of movement coming from his bedroom. Grabbing one of his katana from its display case, he slowly edged upstairs, where he could see that his door was ajar and the room light on. Hoping to capitalise on the element of surprise, he kicked the door wide open and prepared to charge in. He was stopped abruptly in his tracks by the sight of Naruto sitting on his bed, flipping through his only photo album. At the sound of the door crashing open, Naruto looked up at Sasuke, then lifted an eyebrow at the weapon posed dramatically over Sasuke's head.

"You're kidding right? That's your big plan for potential break-ins, to go into ninja-mode? Was there a bullet-deflecting class I missed back when we were in the academy?"

Naruto had to be the only person on the planet who could aggravate him this easily right off the bat. From zero to exasperating in two seconds flat. Sasuke leaned the katana against the wall outside the room, knowing full well he would be tempted to use it again that night, and thinking it best that it was out of immediate reach. He came back into the room to find that Naruto had resumed perusing the album again.

"You really need to learn to smile in pictures. People are going to start to think you have irreparably bad teeth or something."

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke was aware that Naruto had a gift for confusing people into believing that all was right in the world, and whatever he was doing was perfectly right, normal and good for the world in general. Sasuke was also aware that he was weak enough to fall for it, only to be left with the severe damage damn his friend would decide that his vacation was over. Naruto closed the album and placed it on the nightstand, realizing that he wasn't in for an easy time.

"I thought I'd come see you. I haven't been home in awhile-"

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"-and I thought," Naruto continued not missing a beat. "That maybe it was time I made the time."

"Well isn't that thoughtful of you. I am sure the people of Konoha will thank you for the favour you have decided to bestow on us."

Naruto sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, mentally counting to ten as he tried to think of a workable strategy to approach this problem. He couldn't, but then, Sasuke was always a puzzle. Naruto was never particularly good at those.

"What don't I get Sasuke? What is it that I "don't understand"?"

Sasuke tensed before he decided to shrug his shoulder. "It's nothing. Nothing to concern yourself about anymore."

"Huh…not much I can do about that then."

Naruto stood then, and Sasuke immediately felt that force that always surrounded him, trying to push all barriers and everything not special enough out of his way. It never helped that Sasuke tended to feel like one of those things that always had to hand on for dear life whenever Naruto was around. But damn he had missed him though. Staring at him simply standing there made Sasuke feel as if he had just woken up from a nightmare into sunlight. The feeling was near nauseating. Naruto walked over to him, and he could feel frissons of nervous energy coursing through him, intensifying as Naruto drew closer.

"Hey Sasuke, it wasn't until I was in the plane coming back, that I remembered that I don't have an apartment here anymore and I don't want to stay at an inn or anything like that."

Naruto finally came to a stop just a few inches before Sasuke, clearly still having no concept of personal boundaries. When he clasped his hands together, he almost caught Sasuke's nose in between them. He then smiled sunnily at the pale man seemingly plastered against the bedroom wall.

"What do you say, can I crash here with you?"

Sasuke felt something inside him snap. "Stay here? You want to stay here until your little holiday is over? Who the fuck do you think you are? You just waltz in here and you think suddenly everything is going to be okay again? Just how stupid and deluded are you?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed in the way they always did whenever he was confused or guarded, their bright blue disappearing completely. "Why are you so mad at me?"

"You didn't even turn around at the fucking airport!"

"What?"

Sasuke stared at, who was at that point, an understandably confused Naruto.

"I waited, I just stood there hoping you just turn around once and say goodbye- to at least prove that it really mattered that I was there; that leaving me here was actually a big deal to you. You just walked right unto to the plane and didn't look back. You just… left me there."

Naruto said nothing for awhile as digested that. He scratched his nose thoughtfully as he started to speak.

"Well I couldn't look back could I? I might never have gotten on the plane. It was the first chance I ever had to get out of Konoha. I really believed that it would be my only one, and that if I didn't go then, I'd never get another chance to. I'd never get to prove to anyone what I was really worth. To live your entire life in a place where people see right through you, thinking your existence is less than nothing…" Naruto shook his head. "I figured I had to take the chance, no matter what the sacrifice was then."

Sasuke attention had been held by one thing Naruto had said. "If it was so vital to you, why were you afraid you wouldn't get on the plane?"

Naruto opened his eyes then, making sure that Sasuke could not doubt his sincerity. "I didn't want to leave you Sasuke. You are the most important person to me, the first person to ever acknowledge me and I figured, if I had looked back, I wasn't going to be able to walk away and I'd be stuck and I'd… Look, as you've pointed out on numerous occasions, I'm kind of an idiot. I mean I was an idiot, I know better now."

Sasuke regarded all of this with unconcealed suspicion and doubt. "Like what? What exactly do you know better?"

"Well for one thing, I realized that I didn't have to leave Konoha to prove how unbelievably incredible and awe-inspiring I am- I can do that anywhere, and maybe, I should do it here. It does contain my target demographic after all- that is, people who have tortured me since childhood."

"Enthralling… what, if anything, else?"

"I was getting to it! Far more importantly, I learnt that I should never leave the people I love behind, I should, and will, make it all work. I'll make it work for us, Sasuke."

Sasuke was trying unsuccessfully to tamp down the potentially devastating emotions of hope, relief and ebullient victory. One can never be too careful when dealing with Naruto and his absolute genius at being extremely dense. For all Sasuke knew, this could be a conversation about getting each of them a webcam so they could trade horror stories about bad dates in real time.

"So when you say 'love'-"

Sasuke's attempt at crystal clear confirmation was cut off by Naruto's lips pressing against his. The unexpected kiss sent Sasuke's entire body into shock. His brain shut down, his back stiffened and he even lost the wherewithal to close his eyes and savour the moment he had been dreaming about for years. It took Naruto a few seconds to realise that the kiss was not being reciprocated. He paused his amorous actions and opened his eyes only to see Sasuke staring impassively back at him. He slowly and cautiously pulled away.

"Um, Sasuke?"

Nothing. Apart from Sasuke blinking once, there appeared to be no signs of life emanating from the stunned man. Naruto started to panic.

"Oh God, I totally misread this didn't I? I am so, so sorry. I thought that… I mean you were, and I was… Please don't snap and kill me."

"You kissed me."

"Um…"

"On the lips…"

"Yeah, about that…"

"That's definitely not a platonic thing to do."

"Well that depends, how much do you know about New York, because I am totally willing to blame what just happened on me living there and being highly suggestible."

Sasuke finally moved away from the wall and towards a visibly nervous Naruto.

"Bullshit, you're in love with me aren't you."

"I'd say yes but I don't want to die."

"Huh, I really wished we'd had this conversation sooner. It would have saved me a lot of angst."

"Does this mean that you won't kill-"

Further dialogue was discontinued when Sasuke literally launched himself at Naruto, and it was most certainly not to kill.

* * *

It was now evening and darkness had descended on Sasuke's house, the only lights coming from the stupid fluorescent stickers Naruto had placed all over his ceiling the day he had closed escrow. At night, his ceiling turns into a universe that Naruto had created, and he could never bring himself to take the things down.

"Staring at the ceiling as we entertain our feelings in the dark." Sasuke realized that making out with Naruto was not unlike inhaling nitrous oxide, it left you languid and a little loopy.

"Umm, Shakespeare?"

"Blessid Union of Souls."

"Hmm, I'd say deep and moving things too, but I think you sprained my tongue. Are we going to lie here on your floor for the rest of the night?"

"Quite possibly."

"'Kay… Sasuke, do you ever think that we create way too much drama for ourselves? Couldn't we at least fall in love and get together like normal people."

"I do not create drama. I go out of my way to avoid it. In fact, I am deeply resentful of this emotional rollercoaster you've had me on these past few years. I demand you make me happy all the time or I'll call this whole thing off."

Naruto smiled and continued stroking the

dark hair of the man resting his head on his stomach. "I'll try my best."

"Naruto-"

"I'm not getting you a puppy"

"Oh shut up. Just… never go away again."

Naruto shifted until he managed to cradle Sasuke against him, and whispered the promise into his ear until they both fell asleep. It was an easy promise to make, for after searching so long to find home, who'd ever want to leave?

**THE END**

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**_A/N: _**The next release will be the start of my second multi-chapter. It's time I committed myself to something other than one-shots I guess. Look out for Role Play series as well. It's a-coming, I promise.

Hope you enjoyed this, thanks for reading.


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